Govt asks bloggers to help promote tourism

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Culture and Tourism minister Jero Wacik has asked the blogger community to help promote Indonesia's tourist sites among the international public.

In a prepared speech read by a senior tourism official at a Blogger Party 2008 here Saturday, the minister said ,"The second blogger party will stimulate online network growth in Indonesia. It can make blogs a more effective media to promote tourism."

He said almost all human activities now involve internet facilities so that this type of media was an effective vehicle to promote Indonesia's tourism.

"Today, almost all human activities are closely related to the on-line media. It is necessary to put the mission to promote tourism," he said, adding that he hoped bloggers from foreign countries like Australia, the US and Malaysia can also publicize Indonesia's tourism sites.

"Coinciding with the Indonesia Visit Year 2008 program, we try to make breakthroughs in promoting tourism, including through the online media," said Wacik.

Meanwhile, Director General of the Telemathics Application of the Communication and Information Ministry, Cahyana Ahmadijaya, said that blogging had developed from "blogfun" to "blogprenuer" and could still develop into other aspects of social signifiance.

"We have set October 27 as National Blogger Day. This will be the start of digital community development in Indonesia," Ahmadijaya said.

"The government has given the freedom to people to make blogs. However, we still must abide by existing regulations," State Minister for Research and Technology Kusmayanto
Kadiman said.

"The development of blogging is closely related to technological development. Blogs nowadays do not only play a role in the technology sector but also in the economic and even political sectors," he said, adding blogs were complementing, not replacing, the existing information media. (*)